Czechia · CZ

Královská obora Stromovka

Stromovka, formally the Royal Game Reserve (Královská obora), is one of Prague's largest and most storied parks—a near-100-hectare green oasis of mature trees, ponds, meadows and shaded promenades sprawled across the Vltava floodplain in the Bubeneč district. What began in the 13th century as a walled hunting ground for Czech kings has been reimagined as an English-style landscape park that Prague families treat as their own Central Park, threaded with playgrounds, jogging and cycling paths, picnic lawns and a string of historic buildings. It is the rare city park where you can stand on ground once ringed as a royal game enclosure, look down over ponds fed by a 16th-century water tunnel built by Rudolf II, and still find a planetarium, a rose garden and a tram-themed playground all within a short stroll. Open year-round and free to wander, it rewards a slow half-day as much as a quick green escape from the crowds of central Prague.